influence of media on students essay

Media Effects on College Students Today Essay

Introduction, rationale for study, method of study.

In spite of the fact that college students are less vulnerable in terms of being exposed to the negative effects of mass media, these sources of information still have significant impacts on young individuals. Students have access to a variety of media, including social media and mass media that provide them with many advertisements, experts’ and public opinions, credible and falsified information that influence their vision (Campbell, Martin, & Fabos, 2011).

The problem is that college students belong to the category of the most active users of media sources, and they can directly influence young individuals’ choices, behaviors, and perceptions of their appearance among other aspects. Therefore, it is important to study the set research problem with the help of the following question: what media effects on college students are of great importance today? The current research is aimed at analyzing the positive and negative effects of mass media on college students with reference to their importance and outcomes for individuals’ choices, decisions, behaviors, beliefs, and perceptions.

Not all media effects are of similar importance depending on the extent of students’ involvement and interest in media messages. Several years ago, researchers mostly focused on studying the effects of violent representation and advertising on young viewers (Swiatkowski, 2016). However, today more attention is paid to examining the role of social media and binge-watching in influencing college students’ views and behaviors. Certain technological advancements have changed the context of mass media and their effects on college students, accentuating the necessity of studying new trends (Dandamudi & Sathiyaseelan, 2018).

It is important to examine how social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and watching TV series via digital steaming and Netflix, for example, can affect college students’ choices, behaviors, and decisions.

The problem is that college students have open and unlimited access to social media, and they spend several hours per day reading posts. As a result, messages, images, and advertisements in social media can directly form college students’ visions regarding modern trends in the areas of appearance, fashion, make-up, lifestyle, healthy or unhealthy habits, and others. Furthermore, those college students who prefer watching many episodes of TV series during a certain period of time (binge-watching) and reporting a kind of dependence on television are also vulnerable to be greatly affected by messages in these media (Morgan, 2017).

Therefore, this study is important to be conducted to determine what particular media effects on college students are of great importance with reference to modern tendencies in using social media and binge-watching among others. This information can be used to analyze how media can change or form college students’ visions regarding their choices, goals, lifestyle, image, and relations with other people.

To conduct the research based on a literature review methodology, the following databases have been searched: ProQuest, EBSCOHost, Google Scholar, and Emerald Insight. The keywords used in the search are the following ones: “mass media,” “media effects,” “college students,” and “social media.” As a result, 112 articles mentioning different mass media and published within the past five years were retrieved. Among these articles, 10 secondary sources have been selected to be analyzed and used in this research.

Thus, recent general trends in the use of mass media by college students and associated effects should be discussed with reference to the studies by Saleem, Hanan, Saleem, and Shamshad (2014), Yu (2014), Swiatkowski (2016), and Wahab, Othman, and Muhammad (2017). In these studies, the researchers examined how mass media and advertising influence college students’ views regarding their body images, can provoke body dissatisfaction, provoke violent or unhealthy behaviors, and impact personal choices.

The review of the existing literature on the problem allows for identifying two important trends associated with the topic of mass media effects, such as the use of social media and binge-watching. The effects of such social media as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat on college students’ choices can be discussed with reference to Alhabash and Ma’s (2017) study. Today, students mostly choose Instagram that influences their views regarding acceptable body images, lifestyles, and career choices.

These ideas are also presented in the works by Park, Song, and Lee (2014) and Davis (2018), who accentuated the risks of objectification, misrepresentation, and stress connected with using social media. The effects of television, Netflix, binge-watching on college students with reference to risks of following observed behavioral patterns are discussed in the studies by Wang, Lin, and Ke (2015), Morgan (2017), Dandamudi, and Sathiyaseelan (2018).

Today, college students have unlimited access to different mass media, including social media, which can significantly influence their perceptions, visions, and behaviors. The researchers are inclined to distinguish between traditional mass media and their effects, including the role of television, magazines, and advertising in forming body perceptions, for example, and new trends. Thus, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other media created the foundation for the development of new tendencies in the media world.

As a result, the effects of mass media on college students have changed, and it is important to research them in detail. The reason is that social media can provoke body dissatisfaction, isolation, problems with socialization, peer pressure among other problems. Furthermore, the unlimited watching of TV series is associated with certain behaviors and personal choices. College students can experience both positive (motivation and self-realization) and negative (dissatisfaction, peer pressure, frustration) effects of mass media that need to be studied.

Alhabash, S., & Ma, M. (2017). A tale of four platforms: Motivations and uses of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat among college students? Social Media+ Society , 3 (1), 2056305117691544.

Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B. (2011). Media and culture: An introduction to mass communication (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Dandamudi, V. A., & Sathiyaseelan, A. (2018). Binge watching: Why are college students glued to their screens? Journal of Indian Health Psychology, 12 (2), 41-52.

Davis, S. E. (2018). Objectification, sexualization, and misrepresentation: Social media and the college experience. Social Media+ Society , 4 (3), 2056305118786727.

Morgan, J. A. (2017). Cultivating a career: Effects of television binge-watching and character identification on college students’ goal occupations. IU Journal of Undergraduate Research , 3 (1), 48-53.

Park, N., Song, H., & Lee, K. M. (2014). Social networking sites and other media use, acculturation stress, and psychological well-being among East Asian college students in the United States. Computers in Human Behavior , 36 , 138-146.

Saleem, N., Hanan, M. A., Saleem, I., & Shamshad, R. M. (2014). Career selection: Role of parent’s profession, mass media and personal choice. Bulletin of Education and Research , 36 (2), 25-37.

Swiatkowski, P. (2016). Magazine influence on body dissatisfaction: Fashion vs. health? Cogent Social Sciences , 2 (1), 1250702.

Wahab, N. A., Othman, M. S., & Muhammad, N. (2017). The influence of the mass media in the behavior students: A literature study. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences , 7 (8), 166-174.

Wang, F., Lin, S., & Ke, X. (2015). Just entertainment: Effects of TV series about intrigue on young adults. Frontiers in Psychology , 6 , 529.

Yu, U. J. (2014). Deconstructing college students’ perceptions of thin-idealized versus nonidealized media images on body dissatisfaction and advertising effectiveness. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal , 32 (3), 153-169.

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The impact of social media on academic performance and interpersonal relations among health sciences undergraduates

P. p. c. m. chandrasena.

Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka

I. M. P. S. Ilankoon

Background:.

Social media has become a most inseparable part of young adults’ lives with the rapid development of information and communication technology. The study aimed to assess the use of social media and its association with academic performance, well-being, and interpersonal relation of the health sciences undergraduates.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduates in Faculty of Allied Health Sciences ( n = 220), University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. Data were collected using a pretested, self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

The response rate was 79.5%. All undergraduates ( n = 175) had social media accounts, and WhatsApp was the most frequently used social media site (96.0%), followed by Facebook (70.9%), mainly for communicating (85.1%), entertainment (83.4%), and online learning (65.7%). Most undergraduates (72.0%) spent 2–5 h daily on social media sites and followed social media 1–10 times per day (54.9%). The majority of them wished to use social media for academic purposes (94.9%), and the most preferred site for academic work was WhatsApp (65.1%). Most undergraduates’ self-reported Grade Point Average (GPA) (46.3%) was <2.9. There was a statistically significant association between the mean GPA and frequencies of using social media ( P = 0.02) (not daily [3.3 ± 0.3], 1–10 times a day [2.9 ± 0.4], and more than 10 times a day [3 ± 0.4]). Perceived social media addiction and duration of sleep ( P = 0.02), activities of daily living ( P = 0.004), and study time ( P = 0.02) were found to be significantly associated.

CONCLUSIONS:

Despite the undergraduates’ willingness to use social media for academic purposes, the frequency of using social media had a significant influence on their academic performance. This highlights the importance of guidance on effective use of social media and social media addiction to improve undergraduates’ academic performance, well-being, and interpersonal relationships.

Introduction

Social media has become a major technological development that affects social interactions.[ 1 ] Six degrees were the first recognizable social media site that developed in 1997.[ 2 ] The definition of social media includes “a social network of interactive communication that exists between people using specialized electronic platforms for interaction such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn, and Instagram.”[ 3 ]

Today, social media has become a most inseparable part of users’ lives,[ 4 ] especially young adults and students.[ 1 ] All other leisure activities have been replaced by the use of social media.[ 5 ] There are more than 4.5 billion people worldwide who use the Internet, while more than 3.8 billion of them use social media.[ 6 ] Due to the high-speed Internet connection around the world, people can unlimitedly access their favorite social networking sites from anywhere in the world.[ 7 ]

People use social media for different purposes such as staying in touch with family and friends,[ 7 ] academic purposes,[ 7 ] as a hobby,[ 7 ] meeting new people,[ 7 ] and for business purposes.[ 4 , 7 ] Further, social media is used by health-care professionals to share health-related information, promote healthy behaviors, and interact with patients.[ 8 ]

Undergraduates use social media than other people,[ 9 ] and the preferred sites are WhatsApp and Facebook, especially among medical and paramedical undergraduates.[ 10 ] Undergraduates spent 1–3 h/day on social media, and it has become their daily habit[ 10 ] with the purposes such as entertainment, update with the latest news, and socializing.[ 11 ] Further, social media has been used for academic purposes such as group project completion, individual study, group project discussion, individual assignment completion, contact the instructor, and note sharing by the undergraduates.[ 12 ] They perceived that connecting with their peers and instructors via social media leads to their academic success and it was the best method for completing group projects without face-to-face meetings.[ 12 ]

Some of the identified positive effects of social media on education include socializing, sharing knowledge, updating, learning from various sources, preparing, and sharing.[ 8 ] Negative effects of social media on education include reduced learning and research capabilities, reduction in real human contact, time wastage, low grades, and loss of motivation.[ 8 ] Social media addiction impacts the students’ academic performance as well as their physical well-being and psychological well-being.[ 8 , 13 ] Some students are becoming preoccupied with social media networks and unable to control their use of this new technology, thereby jeopardizing their employment and personal relationships.[ 1 ]

With little evidence on the use of social media and its impact in Sri Lanka, this study aimed to assess the use of social media, perception of using social media for academic purposes, and association between the use of social media and academic performance and interpersonal relationships of the undergraduates in Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (FAHS), University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ).

Materials and Methods

Study design and setting.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the FAHS, USJ, Sri Lanka. There are three-degree programs in the FAHS, USJ, namely Nursing Degree, Pharmacy Degree, and Medical Laboratory Sciences Degree. All degree programs are four-year academic programs that are conducted in English medium.

Study participants and sampling

The questionnaire was administered to all undergraduates in the 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th academic years at FAHS, USJ. The total number of students in the study population was 220. First-year undergraduates were excluded from the study due to limited exposure to academic activities at the time of the data collection of the study.

Data collection tool and technique

A pretested self-administered questionnaire was developed by literature search incorporating the personal experience of the researchers. It was administered in English. The questionnaire was prepared as a Google Forms, and it comprised four sections: section 1 – information on sociodemographic data, section 2 – information regarding the use of social media, section 3 – perception of the use of social media, and section 4 – effects of social media on well-being and interpersonal relationships.

Data were collected during October–November 2020 by sharing the Google link to all undergraduates ( n = 220) with the information sheet via E-mail and WhatsApp messages. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a time where the university was closed and face-to-face data collection was not feasible. The deadline to complete the questionnaire was given and reminders to the students were sent 2 days before the deadline. Those who were not responding after two reminders were considered nonresponders. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for Windows version 20 IBM, Chicago, IL, USA was used for the data analysis. Descriptive statistics and relevant inferential tests such as the Chi-square test and independent-sample t -test and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Ethical consideration

Informed verbal consent was obtained before commencement of the data collection and ethical standards were followed according to the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Review Committee of the university before the commencement of the study (Ref No: Nur/20/20).

The response rate was 79.5% ( n = 175), and a majority of them were female (83.4%) undergraduates and were single (93.7%). The mean age of the undergraduates was 24.97 (standard deviation ± 2.68) years. There was an equal distribution of study participants from three-degree programs: Nursing, Pharmacy, and Medical Laboratory Sciences as 36%, 30.3%, and 33.7%, respectively. Thirty-eight per cent of participants ( n = 38.3) were in the 2 nd year of their respective degree programs. The participation of undergraduates in the study from the 3 rd year and 4 th year was 31.4% ( n = 55) and 30.3% ( n = 30.3), respectively.

All the undergraduates (100%) had social media accounts, and the majority (99.4%) of them used a smartphone and laptop (32%) to access social media. The main data sources for accessing social media were mobile data (92.6%) and Wi-Fi (45.1%). WhatsApp was the most frequently used social media (96.0%), followed by Facebook (70.9%).

Nearly 55% of the undergraduates had one social media account when 37.7% had 2–3 social media accounts. Nearly seven per cent of undergraduates had more than four social media accounts. When considering the frequency of using social media, most of the participants (72.0%) spend 2–5 h daily on their favorite social media sites. Twenty-two undergraduates (12.6%) spend more than 5 h on social media. Most of the undergraduates (54.9%) follow social media 1–10 times per day while 42% follow more than 10 times a day. The majority of the undergraduates (93.1%) used social media during their free time. Thirty-eight participants reported that they use social media while at university and nearly one-fourth (27%) use social media at any spare moment [ Table 1 ].

Use of social media by undergraduates ( n =175)

*Multiple answers were allowed

The majority of the undergraduates reported that they check social media before getting out of bed (78.9%) and mentioned that the last thing they do before going to sleep is checking social media (58.9%). The majority of the undergraduates (85.1%) were using social media for communicating with friends and entertainment (83.4%). Nearly almost all undergraduates (94.9%) were willing to use social media for academic purposes. The most preferable ways of communicating with lecturers were WhatsApp ( n = 114, 65.1%) followed by E-mail ( n = 98, 56.0%), Google Classroom ( n = 95, 54.3%), and LMS ( n = 82, 46.9%).

Nearly one-fifth (21%) of the undergraduates strongly agreed that “social networking tools facilitate knowledge sharing.” The majority of the undergraduates were agreed with the statements of “through social networking learning environment, I can get what information I want” (46.3%), “social networking sites help to get help from friends and classmates on assignments” (45.7%), “social networking tools facilitate knowledge sharing” (42.9%), and “through social networking applications, I can freely create and participate in group discussions” (37.7%) [ Table 2 ].

Perception of learning from social media

There was a statistically significant association between perceived social media addiction and time spent on social media daily ( P = 0.002), using social media just after waking up ( P = 0.005), and checking social media just before going to sleep ( P = 0.001) [ Table 3 ].

Association between perceived social media addiction and social media use

a Pearson Chi-square, b Likelihood ratio

Nearly 46% of the undergraduates’ self-reported GPA was <2.9. There was a significant mean difference between the GPA and frequencies of following social media (not daily [3.3 ± 0.3], 1–10 times a day [2.9 ± 0.4], and more than 10 times a day [3 ± 0.4], ( P = 0.02) [ Table 4 ].

Association between the use of social media and undergraduates’ academic performance

b Likelihood ratio. GPA=Grade point average

There was a statistically significant association between perceived social media addiction and duration of sleep ( P = 0.02), effects on activities of daily living ( P = 0.004), and effects on study time ( P = 0.02). However, there was no statistically significant association between the presence of sleep problems and perceived effects on health among the undergraduates ( P > 0.05) [ Table 5 ].

Association between perceived social media addiction and well-being of the undergraduates

Nearly half of the undergraduates (52.6%) accepted that social media has a neutral effect on their relationships, followed by a positive effect (30.9%) and a strongly positive (10.3%) effect. A high percentage of students (71.4%) reported that they do not enjoy online interactions more than face-to-face interactions.

The study investigated the use of social media and its effects on academic performance and interpersonal relations among health science undergraduates. The present study revealed that all undergraduates in FAHS, USJ, used social media, commonly WhatsApp and Facebook. It was similar to other studies where WhatsApp was the most used social media among undergraduates.[ 10 , 11 , 14 ] In contrast, Facebook and YouTube were the most commonly used social networking sites among medical, dental, and pharmacy students at the University of Sharjah, UAE,[ 15 ] and Facebook was the most commonly used social media site in Kenya.[ 16 ] This might be due to the different time periods in which different studies were conducted and the new social media sites emerged and their effectiveness.

Similar to the present study, undergraduates were accessing social networks through mobile phones and laptops at a large state university in Kuwait.[ 14 ] The present study showed that most of the undergraduates had only one social media account which is in contrast to other studies where the undergraduates had 3–4 social media sites.[ 10 , 13 ] Purposes of using social media are found to be communicating with friends, entertainment, online learning, and staying up to date with news. This is in line with others’ findings that students use social media to passing away time,[ 1 ] entertainment,[ 11 , 17 ] communicating with others,[ 16 , 17 ] and learning.[ 12 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]

The current study showed that more than half of the undergraduates’ used social media daily for between 2 and 5 h with a frequency of 1–10 times a day similar to other studies,[ 16 , 17 ] contrast to study conduct in Bahrain where most participants had more than 20 logins per day.[ 18 ] According to the present study, most of the study undergraduates were persuaded to access their favorite social media sites during free time, any spare moment, while at university, and during social occasions accordingly. It has been evident that students used social media during their free time and used it while at school or during their spare moment.[ 19 ] With the advancement of technology, day-by-day new social media sites are evolving and creating user-friendly and attractive apps. This will lead to an increase in the duration of using social media among users.

Undergraduates’ perception of using social media for academic purposes was assessed, and most of the undergraduates had a willingness to use social media for academic purposes. WhatsApp was the most preferable method of communicating with lecturers, followed by E-mail, Google Classroom, and LMS, respectively. This result agreed with past studies where undergraduates preferred social media over e-learning platforms.[ 18 ] It may be due to easy accessibility for social media than e-learning platforms such as LMS. The present study showed that majority of the undergraduates perceived that they were not addicted to social media contrast to a study that showed that most of the students had a moderate level of social media addiction.[ 20 ] Users can log in to social media sites for different purposes. Excessive use of these sites can cause addiction.[ 20 ] Perceived social media addiction was significantly associated with the time spend on social media daily, using social media just after waking up and checking social media just before going to sleep in the present study. A similar result was found by Al-Menayes (2015).[ 21 ]

The academic performance was assessed through the undergraduates’ GPA, and a majority had less than 2.9 GPA in the present study. There was no difference in the mean GPA of the undergraduates who perceived that they were addicted to social media and gender in the present study. However, researchers have found a significant negative correlation between the number of social media accounts and GPA among undergraduates in the USA.[ 22 ]

Some researchers stressed that social media platforms promote students learning and have found a significant positive impact on academic performance.[ 23 ] However, in the present study, frequencies of following social media were found to be associated with lower GPA similar to a study conducted in Sri Lanka where most of the heavy or frequent social media users had lower grades compared to the light users.[ 24 ] It has been evident that time spent using social media/social media addiction has a strong negative predictor of academic performance.[ 9 , 11 , 14 , 20 , 21 , 22 ] This might be due to the distractive nature of social media websites.[ 20 , 22 ] It is imperative to use social media to aid undergraduates’ academic success and to make connections with peers and faculty.[ 11 ]

In Sri Lanka, entering a university is very competitive and those who are selected also need to work hard to get a good GPA.[ 25 ] COVID-19 pandemic has changed the usual learning environment of the undergraduates resulting in challenges to the students.[ 26 ] This will further motivate undergraduates to use social media frequently, and the time spent using social media comes at the expense of activities that could enhance a student's academic performance.[ 14 ] Undergraduates can become addicted to social media and lead to diminishing academic performances and instigating social and health-related challenges.[ 13 ] Perceived social media addiction had an association with duration of sleep, activities of daily living, and study time in the present study. Similarly, other studies have found an association between the use of social media with sleep quality among undergraduates.[ 27 , 28 ] Reducing the quality of sleep negatively affects the students’ concentration and academic quality.[ 20 ] Lack of adequate sleep interferes with the secretion of serotonin and melatonin that increases the stress and anxiety level among students.[ 13 , 20 ] This will reduce the brainpower and cognitive abilities which can negatively impact on academic performance of the student.[ 29 ]

According to the results of the present study, the majority of the participants reported that they do not enjoy online interactions over the face-to-face interactions. Undergraduates commented that a face-to-face interaction creates less confusion about what each person had to do.[ 12 ] Further, they perceived that social media has a neutral effect on their relationships similar to a study conducted in Kolkata, India.[ 10 ] This is in contrast to a study conducted in South Africa where the majority of the students believed that social media somewhat affects personal relationships.[ 30 ]

Social media is not self-destructive and harmful on its own, but how it is used by the user leads to positive and negative consequences.[ 20 ] It has been evident that social media can engage students in active learning using user-generated content, facilitation of communication and feedback, collaboration, and access to resources.[ 10 ] The responsible use of social media by health sciences undergraduates will contribute to their academic performance and professional development. Ultimately, this would be beneficial to patients.[ 10 ]

Limitation and recommendation

The current study was limited to undergraduates of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, USJ. The study sample was limited as data collection was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic situation where all the universities were closed for more than 5 months in Sri Lanka. The self-report academic performance and the social media addiction might have led to recall bias.

The study recommends that students need to limit the time spent on social media sites which would allow them to attend their academic activities. It will be beneficial to incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy into counseling programs for undergraduates to avoid social media addiction and to promote mental health during their academic years. Additionally, the findings have implications for educators/academics to consider how social media can integrate into the academic curriculum of Allied Health Sciences undergraduates channeling its positive influence into the curriculum to maximize learning. Organizing awareness programs for undergraduates regarding the use of social media in the right direction will be a learning aid.

Conclusions

Social media is very popular among health sciences undergraduates, and they use social media to communicate with friends, entertainment, online learning, and updating news. It was found that social media has a negative impact on a student's academic performance and daily living. Parents and academics should monitor the social media use by undergraduates to prevent social media addiction associated with excessive use. Future research can be focused to determine the efficacy of using social media in the teaching–learning activities for health sciences undergraduates.

Financial support and sponsorship

This study is self-funded.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgment

The authors thank all the participants for their support.

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Analysing the Impact of Social Media on Students’ Academic Performance: A Comparative Study of Extraversion and Introversion Personality

• Review Article
• Published: 12 November 2022
• Volume 67 , pages 549–559, ( 2022 )

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• Sourabh Sharma   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9729-5129 1 &
• Ramesh Behl 1  

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The advent of technology in education has seen a revolutionary change in the teaching–learning process. Social media is one such invention which has a major impact on students’ academic performance. This research analyzed the impact of social media on the academic performance of extraversion and introversion personality students. Further, the comparative study between these two personalities will be analysed on education level (postgraduate and undergraduate) and gender (male and female). The research was initiated by identifying the factors of social media impacting students’ academic performance. Thereafter, the scale was developed, validated and tested for reliability in the Indian context. Data were collected from 408 students segregated into 202 males and 206 females. Two hundred and thirty-four students are enrolled in postgraduation courses, whereas 174 are registered in the undergraduate programme. One-way ANOVA has been employed to compare the extraversion and introversion students of different education levels and gender. A significant difference is identified between extraversion and introversion students for the impact of social media on their academic performance.

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Introduction

Social Networking Sites (SNS) gained instant popularity just after the invention and expansion of the Internet. Today, these sites are used the most to communicate and spread the message. The population on these social networking sites (SNS) has increased exponentially. Social networking sites (SNS) in general are called social media (Boyd & Ellison, 2008 ). Social media (SM) is used extensively to share content, initiate discussion, promote businesses and gain advantages over traditional media. Technology plays a vital role to make SM more robust by reducing security threats and increasing reliability (Stergiou et al., 2018 ).

As of January 2022, more than 4.95 billion people are using the Internet worldwide, and around 4.62 billion are active SM users (Johnson, 2022 ). In India, the number of Internet users was 680 million by January 2022, and there were 487 million active social media users (Basuray, 2022 ). According to Statista Research Department ( 2022 ), in India, SM is dominated by two social media sites, i.e. YouTube and Facebook. YouTube has 467 million users followed by Facebook with 329 million users.

Although almost all age groups are using SM platforms to interact and communicate with their known community (Whiting & Williams, 2013 ), it has been found that social media sites are more popular among youngsters and specifically among students. They use SM for personal as well as academic activities extensively (Laura et al., 2017 ). Other than SM, from the last two years, several online platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet are preferred to organize any kind of virtual meetings, webinars and online classes. These platforms were used worldwide to share and disseminate knowledge across the defined user community during the pandemic. Social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and blogs are comparatively more open and used to communicate with public and/or private groups. Earlier these social media platforms were used only to connect with friends and family, but gradually these platforms became one of the essential learning tools for students (Park et al., 2009 ). To enhance the teaching–learning process, these social media sites are explored by all types of learning communities (Dzogbenuku et al., 2019 ). SM when used in academics has both advantages and disadvantages. Social media helps to improve academic performance, but it may also distract the students from studies and indulge them in other non-academic activities (Alshuaibi et al., 2018 ).

Here, it is important to understand that the personality traits of students, their education level and gender are critical constructs to determine academic performance. There are different personality traits of an individual such as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion and introversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (McCrae & Costa, 1987 ). This cross-functional research is an attempt to study the impact of social media on the academic performance of students while using extraversion and introversion personality traits, education levels and gender as moderating variables.

Literature Review

There has been a drastic change in the internet world due to the invention of social media sites in the last ten years. People of all age groups now share their stories, feelings, videos, pictures and all kinds of public stuff on social media platforms exponentially (Asur & Huberman, 2010 ). Youth, particularly from the age group of 16–24, embraced social media sites to connect with their friends and family, exchange information and showcase their social status (Boyd & Ellison, 2008 ). Social media sites have many advantages when used in academics. The fun element of social media sites always helps students to be connected with peers and teachers to gain knowledge (Amin et al., 2016 ). Social media also enhances the communication between teachers and students as this are no ambiguity and miscommunication from social media which eventually improves the academic performance of the students (Oueder & Abousaber, 2018 ).

When social media is used for educational purposes, it may improve academic performance, but some associated challenges also come along with it (Rithika & Selvaraj, 2013 ). If social media is incorporated into academics, students try to also use it for non-academic discussions (Arnold & Paulus, 2010 ). The primary reason for such distraction is its design as it is designed to be a social networking tool (Qiu et al., 2013 ). According to Englander et al. ( 2010 ), the usage of social media in academics has more disadvantages than advantages. Social media severely impacts the academic performance of a student. The addiction to social media is found more among the students of higher studies which ruins the academic excellence of an individual (Nalwa & Anand, 2003 ). Among the social media users, Facebook users’ academic performance was worse than the nonusers or users of any other social media network. Facebook was found to be the major distraction among students (Kirschner & Karpinski, 2010 ). However, other studies report contrary findings and argued that students benefited from chatting (Jain et al., 2012 ), as it improves their vocabulary and writing skills (Yunus & Salehi, 2012 ). Social media can be used either to excel in academics or to devastate academics. It all depends on the way it is used by the students. The good or bad use of social media in academics is the users’ decision because both the options are open to the students (Landry, 2014 ).

Kaplan and Haenlein ( 2010 ) defined social media as user-generated content shared on web 2.0. They have also classified social media into six categories:

Social Networking Sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram are the social networking sites where a user may create their profile and invite their friends to join. Users may communicate with each other by sharing common content.

Blogging Sites: Blogging sites are individual web pages where users may communicate and share their knowledge with the audience.

Content Communities and Groups: YouTube and Slideshare are examples of content communities where people may share media files such as pictures, audio and video and PPT presentations.

Gaming Sites: Users may virtually participate and enjoy the virtual games.

Virtual Worlds: During COVID-19, this type of social media was used the most. In the virtual world, users meet with each other at some decided virtual place and can do the pre-decided things together. For example, the teacher may decide on a virtual place of meeting, and students may connect there and continue their learning.

Collaborative Content Sites: Wikipedia is an example of a collaborative content site. It permits many users to work on the same project. Users have all rights to edit and add the new content to the published project.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are in trend since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Raja & Kallarakal, 2020 ). MOOCs courses are generally free, and anyone may enrol for them online. Many renowned institutions have their online courses on MOOCs platform which provides a flexible learning opportunity to the students. Students find them useful to enhance their knowledge base and also in career development. Many standalone universities have collaborated with the MOOCs platform and included these courses in their curriculum (Chen, 2013 ).

Security and privacy are the two major concerns associated with social media. Teachers are quite apprehensive in using social media for knowledge sharing due to the same concerns (Fedock et al., 2019 ). It was found that around 72% teachers were reluctant to use social media platforms due to integrity issues and around 63% teachers confirmed that security needs to be tightened before using social media in the classroom (Surface et al., 2014 ). Proper training on security and privacy, to use social media platforms in academics, is needed for  students and teachers (Bhatnagar & Pry, 2020 ).

The personality traits of a student also play a significant role in deciding the impact of social media on students’ academic performance. Personality is a dynamic organization which simplifies the way a person behaves in a situation (Phares, 1991 ). Human behaviour has further been described by many renowned researchers. According to Lubinski ( 2000 ), human behaviour may be divided into five factors, i.e. cognitive abilities, personality, social attitudes, psychological interests and psychopathology. These personality traits are very important characteristics of a human being and play a substantial role in work commitment (Macey & Schneider, 2008 ). Goldberg ( 1993 ) elaborated on five dimensions of personality which are commonly known as the Big Five personality traits. The traits are “openness vs. cautious”; “extraversion vs. introversion”; “agreeableness vs. rational”; “conscientiousness vs. careless”; and “neuroticism vs. resilient”.

It has been found that among all personality traits, the “extraversion vs. introversion” personality trait has a greater impact on students’ academic performance (Costa & McCrae, 1999 ). Extrovert students are outgoing, talkative and assertive (Chamorro et al., 2003 ). They are positive thinkers and comfortable working in a crowd. Introvert students are reserved and quiet. They prefer to be isolated and work in silos (Bidjerano & Dai, 2007 ). So, in the present study, we have considered only the “extraversion vs. introversion” personality trait. This study is going to analyse the impact of social media platforms on students’ academic performance by taking the personality trait of extraversion and introversion as moderating variables along with their education level and gender.

Research Gap

Past research by Choney ( 2010 ), Karpinski and Duberstein ( 2009 ), Khan ( 2009 ) and Kubey et al. ( 2001 ) was done mostly in developed countries to analyse the impact of social media on the students’ academic performance, effect of social media on adolescence, and addictiveness of social media in students. There are no published research studies where the impact of social media was studied on students’ academic performance by taking their personality traits, education level and gender all three together into consideration. So, in the present study, the impact of social media will be evaluated on students’ academic performance by taking their personality traits (extraversion and introversion), education level (undergraduate and postgraduate) and gender (male and female) as moderating variables.

Objectives of the Study

Based on the literature review and research gap, the following research objectives have been defined:

To identify the elements of social media impacting student's academic performance and to develop a suitable scale

To test the  validity and reliability of the scale

To analyse the impact of social media on students’ academic performance using extraversion and introversion personality trait, education level and gender as moderating variables

Research Methodology

Sampling technique.

Convenience sampling was used for data collection. An online google form was floated to collect the responses from 408 male and female university students of undergraduation and postgraduation streams.

Objective 1 To identify the elements of social media impacting student's academic performance and to develop a suitable scale.

A structured questionnaire was employed to collect the responses from 408 students of undergraduate and postgraduate streams. The questionnaire was segregated into three sections. In section one, demographic details such as gender, age and education stream were defined. Section two contained the author’s self-developed 16-item scale related to the impact of social media on the academic performance of students. The third section had a standardized scale developed by John and Srivastava ( 1999 ) of the Big Five personality model.

Demographics

There were 408 respondents (students) of different education levels consisting of 202 males (49.5%) and 206 females (50.5%). Most of the respondents (87%) were from the age group of 17–25 years. 234 respondents (57.4) were enrolled on postgraduation courses, whereas 174 respondents (42.6) were registered in the undergraduate programme. The result further elaborates that WhatsApp with 88.6% and YouTube with 82.9% are the top two commonly used platforms followed by Instagram with 76.7% and Facebook with 62.3% of students. 65% of students stated that Google doc is a quite useful and important application in academics for document creation and information dissemination.

Validity and Reliability of Scale

Objective 2 Scale validity and reliability.

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha test were used to investigate construct validity and reliability, respectively.

The author’s self-designed scale of ‘social media impacting students’ academic performance’ consisting of 16 items was validated using exploratory factor analysis. The principle component method with varimax rotation was applied to decrease the multicollinearity within the items. The initial eigenvalue was set to be greater than 1.0 (Field, 2005 ). Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) with 0.795 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity having significant values of 0.000 demonstrated the appropriateness of using exploratory factor analysis.

The result of exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha is shown in Table 1 . According to Sharma and Behl ( 2020 ), “High loading on the same factor and no substantial cross-loading confirms convergent and discriminant validity respectively”.

The self-developed scale was segregated into four factors, namely “Accelerating Impact”, “Deteriorating Impact”, “Social Media Prospects” and “Social Media Challenges”.

The first factor, i.e. “Accelerating Impact”, contains items related to positive impact of social media on students’ academic performance. Items in this construct determine the social media contribution in the grade improvement, communication and knowledge sharing. The second factor “Deteriorating Impact” describes the items which have a negative influence of social media on students’ academic performance. Items such as addiction to social media and distraction from studies are an integral part of this factor. “Social Media Prospects” talk about the opportunities created by social media for students’ communities. The last factor “Social Media Challenges” deals with security and privacy issues created by social media sites and the threat of cyberbullying which is rampant in academics.

The personality trait of an individual always influences the social media usage pattern. Therefore, the impact of social media on the academic performance of students may also change with their personality traits. To measure the personality traits, the Big Five personality model was used. This model consists of five personality traits, i.e. “openness vs. cautious”; “extraversion vs. introversion”; “agreeableness vs. rational”; “conscientiousness vs. careless”; and “neuroticism vs. resilient”. To remain focussed on the scope of the study, only a single personality trait, i.e. “extraversion vs. introversion” with 6 items was considered for analysis. A reliability test of this existing scale using Cronbach’s alpha was conducted. Prior to the reliability test, reverse scoring applicable to the associated items was also calculated. Table 2 shows the reliability score, i.e. 0.829.

Objective 3 To analyse the impact of social media on students’ academic performance using extraversion and introversion personality traits, education level and gender as moderating variables.

The research model shown in Fig.  1 helps in addressing the above objective.

Social media factors impacting academic performances of extraversion and introversion personality traits of students at different education levels and gender

As mentioned in Fig.  1 , four dependent factors (Accelerating Impact, Deteriorating Impact, Social Media Prospects and Social Media Challenges) were derived from EFA and used for analysing the impact of social media on the academic performance of students having extraversion and introversion personality traits at different education levels and gender.

Students having a greater average score (more than three on a scale of five) for all personality items mentioned in Table 2 are considered to be having extraversion personality or else introversion personality. From the valid dataset of 408 students, 226 students (55.4%) had extraversion personality trait and 182 (44.6%) had introversion personality trait. The one-way ANOVA analysis was employed to determine the impact of social media on academic performance for all three moderators, i.e. personality traits (Extraversion vs. Introversion), education levels (Undergraduate and Postgraduate) and gender (Male and Female). If the sig. value for the result is >  = 0.05, we may accept the null hypothesis, i.e. there is no significant difference between extraversion and introversion personality students for the moderators; otherwise, null hypothesis is rejected which means there is a significant difference for the moderators.

Table 3 shows the comparison of the accelerating impact of social media on the academic performance of all students having extraversion and introversion personality traits. It also shows a comparative analysis on education level and gender for these two personality traits of students. In the first comparison of extraversion and introversion students, the sig. value is 0.001, which indicates that there is a significant difference among extraversion and introversion students for the “Accelerating Impact” of social media on academic performance. Here, 3.781 is the mean value for introversion students which is higher than the mean value 3.495 of extraversion students. It clearly specifies that the accelerating impact of social media is more prominent in the students having introversion personality traits. Introversion students experienced social media as the best tool to express thoughts and improve academic grades. The result is also consistent with the previous studies where introvert students are perceived to use social media to improve their academic performance (Amichai-Hamburger et al., 2002 ; Voorn & Kommers, 2013 ). Further at the education level, there was a significant difference in postgraduate as well as undergraduate students for the accelerating impact of social media on the academic performance among students with extraversion and introversion, and introverts seem to get better use of social media. The gender-wise significant difference was also analysed between extraversion and introversion personalities. Female introversion students were found to gain more of an accelerating impact of social media on their academic performance.

Like Table 3 , the first section of Table 4 compares the deteriorating impact of social media on the academic performance of all students having extraversion and introversion personality traits. Here, the sig. value 0.383 indicates no significant difference among extraversion and introversion students for the “Deteriorating Impact” of social media on academic performance. The mean values show the moderating deteriorating impact of social media on the academic performance of extraversion and introversion personality students. Unlimited use of social media due to the addiction is causing a distraction in academic performance, but the overall impact is not on the higher side. Further, at the education level, the sig. values 0.423 and 0.682 of postgraduate and undergraduate students, respectively, show no significant difference between extraversion and introversion students with respect to “Deteriorating Impact of Social Media Sites”. The mean values again represent the moderate impact. Gender-wise, male students have no difference between the two personality traits, but at the same time, female students have a significant difference in the deteriorating impact, and it is more on extroverted female students.

The significant value, i.e. 0.82, in Table 5 represents no significant difference between extraversion and introversion personality students for the social media prospects. The higher mean value of both personality students indicates that they are utilizing the opportunities of social media in the most appropriate manner. It seems that all the students are using social media for possible employment prospects, gaining knowledge by attending MOOCs courses and transferring knowledge among other classmates. At the education level, postgraduation students have no significant difference between extraversion and introversion for the social media prospects, but at the undergraduate level, there is a significant difference among both the personalities, and by looking at mean values, extroverted students gain more from the social media prospects. Gender-wise comparison of extraversion and introversion personality students found no significant difference in the social media prospects for male as well as female students.

Table 6 shows the comparison of the social media challenges of all students having extraversion and introversion personality traits. It is also doing a comparative analysis on education level and gender for these two personality traits of students. All sig. values in Table 6 represent no significant difference between extraversion and introversion personality students for social media challenges. Even at the education level and gender-wise comparison of the two personalities, no significant difference is derived. The higher mean values indicate that the threat of cyberbullying, security and privacy is the main concern areas for extraversion and introversion personality students. Cyberbullying is seen to be more particularly among female students (Snell & Englander, 2010 ).

The use of social media sites in academics is becoming popular among students and teachers. The improvement or deterioration in academic performance is influenced by the personality traits of an individual. This study has tried to analyse the impact of social media on the academic performance of extraversion and introversion personality students. This study has identified four factors of social media which have an impact on academic performance. These factors are: accelerating impact of social media; deteriorating impact of social media; social media prospects; and social media challenges.

Each of these factors has been used for comparative analysis of students having extraversion and introversion personality traits. Their education level and gender have also been used to understand the detailed impact between these two personality types. In the overall comparison, it has been discovered that both personalities (extraversion and introversion) have a significant difference for only one factor, i.e. “Accelerating Impact of Social Media Sites” where students with introversion benefited the most. At the education level, i.e. postgraduate and undergraduate, there was a significant difference between extraversion and introversion personalities for the first factor which is the accelerating impact of social media. Here, the introversion students were found to benefit in postgraduate as well as undergraduate courses. For the factors of deteriorating impact and social media challenges, there was no significant difference between extraversion and introversion personality type at the different education levels.

Surprisingly, for the first factor, i.e. the accelerating impact of social media, in gender-wise comparison, no significant difference was found between extraversion and introversion male students. Whereas a significant difference was found in female students. The same was the result for the second factor, i.e. deteriorating impact of social media of male and female students. For social media prospects and social media challenges, no significant difference was identified between extraversion and introversion students of any gender.

Findings and Implications

The personality trait of a student plays a vital role in analysing the impact of social media on their academic performance. The present study was designed to find the difference between extraversion and introversion personality types in students for four identified factors of social media and their impact on students’ academic performance. The education level and gender were also added to make it more comprehensive. The implications of this study are useful for institutions, students, teachers and policymakers.

This study will help the institutions to identify the right mix of social media based on the personality, education level and gender of the students. For example, technological challenges are faced by all students. It is important for the institutions to identify the challenges such as cyberbullying, security and privacy issues and accordingly frame the training sessions for all undergraduate and postgraduate students. These training sessions will help students with extraversion and introversion to come out from possible technological hassles and will create a healthy ecosystem (Okereke & Oghenetega, 2014 ).

Students will also benefit from this study as they will be conscious of the possible pros and cons that exist because of social media usage and its association with students’ academic performance. This learning may help students to enhance their academic performance with the right use of social media sites. The in-depth knowledge of all social media platforms and their association with academics should be elucidated to the students so that they may explore the social media opportunities in an optimum manner. Social media challenges also need to be made known to the students to improve upon and overcome with time (Boateng & Amankwaa, 2016 ).

Teachers are required to design the curriculum by understanding the learning style of students with extraversion and introversion personality type. Innovation and customization in teaching style are important for the holistic development of students and to satisfy the urge for academic requirements. Teachers should also guide the students about the adverse impacts of each social media platform, so that these can be minimized. Students should also be guided to reduce the time limit of using social media (Owusu-Acheaw & Larson, 2015 ).

Policymakers are also required to understand the challenges faced by the students while using social media in academics. All possible threats can be managed by defining and implementing transparent and proactive policies. As social media sites are open in nature, security and privacy are the two major concerns. The Government of India should take a strong stand to control all big social media companies so that they may fulfil the necessary compliances related to students’ security and privacy (Kumar & Pradhan, 2018 ).

The overall result of these comparisons gives a better insight and deep understanding of the significant differences between students with extraversion and introversion personality type towards different social media factors and their impact on students’ academic performance. Students’ behaviour according to their education level and gender for extraversion and introversion personalities has also been explored.

Limitation and Future Scope of Research

Due to COVID restrictions, a convenient sampling technique was used for data collection which may create some response biases where the students of introversion personality traits may have intentionally described themselves as extroversion personalities and vice versa. This study also creates scope for future research. In the Big Five personality model, there are four other personality traits which are not considered in the present study. There is an opportunity to also use cross-personality comparisons for the different social media parameters. The other demographic variables such as age and place may also be explored in future research.

Availability of data and material

Complete data and material is available to support transparency.

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Sharma, S., Behl, R. Analysing the Impact of Social Media on Students’ Academic Performance: A Comparative Study of Extraversion and Introversion Personality. Psychol Stud 67 , 549–559 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-022-00675-6

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Received : 25 November 2020

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Negative Impact

However, excessive use can lead to issues like cyberbullying, anxiety, and depression. It can also impact their physical health and academic performance.

In conclusion, while social media has its advantages, it’s essential for teenagers to use it responsibly.

250 Words Essay on Impact of Social Media on Teenager

Social media has become an integral part of our lives, particularly for teenagers. It’s a platform that offers a myriad of opportunities for communication, entertainment, and learning. However, it also presents challenges and potential harms.

Firstly, social media offers a platform for self-expression and identity formation, critical aspects of adolescent development. Teenagers can explore various facets of their personalities, interests, and values. Moreover, it provides an avenue for social interaction and friendship formation, connecting teenagers globally.

On the flip side, the pervasive nature of social media can lead to addictive behaviors, impacting teenagers’ mental health. The constant need for validation through likes and comments can lead to anxiety and low self-esteem. Furthermore, cyberbullying is a significant concern, with its effects often devastating, leading to depression or even suicidal thoughts.

Role of Digital Literacy

To mitigate the negative impacts, it’s crucial to foster digital literacy among teenagers. They need to be educated about responsible social media use, privacy settings, and how to handle cyberbullying.

In conclusion, while social media offers significant benefits to teenagers, it also poses considerable risks. It’s a double-edged sword that can either enhance or hinder adolescent development. Therefore, it’s crucial to provide teenagers with the necessary tools and education to navigate this digital landscape safely and responsibly.

500 Words Essay on Impact of Social Media on Teenager

Social media has become an integral part of our lives, shaping our interactions, relationships, and the way we perceive the world. However, its impact on teenagers, who are at a critical stage of their development, is a topic of intense debate and concern.

The Positive Impact

On the one hand, social media can be a powerful educational tool for teenagers. It provides a platform where they can access a wealth of knowledge and information, enhancing their learning experience. It also fosters creativity and self-expression, allowing teenagers to share their thoughts, ideas, and talents with a global audience.

Moreover, social media helps teenagers build connections and socialize, especially those who may be introverted or socially anxious. It offers a space where they can engage in discussions, participate in online communities, and build friendships beyond geographical boundaries.

The Negative Impact

Conversely, the pervasive use of social media also has potential downsides. Cyberbullying is a significant issue, with teenagers being particularly vulnerable to online harassment and abuse. This can lead to serious emotional and psychological consequences, including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

Additionally, the pressure to maintain an idealized online persona can be detrimental to teenagers’ mental health. The constant comparison with others’ seemingly perfect lives can lead to feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction.

Furthermore, excessive use of social media can negatively affect teenagers’ physical health. It can lead to sedentary behaviors, sleep disturbances, and even addictive tendencies, disrupting their overall wellbeing and development.

Given these impacts, it is crucial to promote digital literacy among teenagers. They need to be educated about the potential risks and benefits of social media, and how to use it responsibly. This includes understanding privacy settings, recognizing and reporting inappropriate content or behavior, and being mindful of the amount of time spent online.

In conclusion, while social media can be a beneficial tool for teenagers, it also presents significant challenges. It is imperative that parents, educators, and policymakers work together to ensure a safe and positive online environment for teenagers, fostering their growth and development in the digital age. The key lies in balance and mindful usage, allowing teenagers to harness the potential of social media while mitigating its risks.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Impact of Social Media
• Essay on Effect of Fake News on Social Media
• Essay on Ecotourism

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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The Effects of Media Influence [IELTS Sample Essay]

Posted by David S. Wills | Jan 14, 2020 | Model Essays | 2

Today, I’m going to share with you a sample band 9 answer that I wrote for one of my students. This is something I provide as part of my IELTS writing correction service . I give every student a full essay, written by me, that would score band 9 according to the IELTS marking criteria .

Here is the question that I was given:

At present, the media greatly affects people’s lives. What impact does this have on society? Is it a negative or positive development?

Is this a real IELTS question? Probably not. In fact, I have altered it slightly to improve the grammar, which is always a warning sign. However, it is very similar to a real one and I guess that it actually did come from a genuine IELTS test.

Answering the Question

What you need to do is first analyse the question and then plan your answer.

First of all, this is a 2 part question . That mean, of course, a question with two parts. For this sort of question, the structure that you use will be simple:

• introduction
• answer question 1
• answer question 2

My answer is also going to be simple. I will first say that there are many ways that the media influences us (with examples) and then say that is both positive and negative (with examples).

However, I will make it a little more complex because this is a band 9 essay. I’m going to introduce a negative example in paragraph 2 and then a positive one in paragraph 3. I will add a linking sentence that bridges the gap, linking my ideas in an advanced way.

Sample Answer

Here is my sample answer to the above IELTS writing question:

In the twenty-first century, media seems ever present in the lives of people all around the world. This essay will look into its impact and also discuss whether it is positive or negative. The role of the media is huge and it will probably continue to grow. Throughout the world, people’s opinions and beliefs are shaped by the media. Whether it is a newspaper, a TV channel, a website, or a social media app, these organizations have the power to make us vote for a political party, alter our views on particular social issues, or taken an interest in some area of life. In other words, the power that they wield is immense. In the United States, the media appears to have recently divided the population into rival political factions, with devastating consequences for society as a whole. The above example makes it seem as though the media is purely negative, but this is not true. When unscrupulous individuals use it to manipulate large numbers of people into doing something, then of course it is problematic, but that is not always how media works. There have been honest, upstanding media outlets throughout history whose commitment to spreading truth has helped solve great problems. Take, for example, the Washington Post’s expose of Richard Nixon’s crimes during the Watergate scandal. It is clear, then, that the media’s power is neither positive nor negative; instead, it is what people let it be. In conclusion, the media has a very large degree of control over people’s lives and this seems to be growing. It affects many parts of society, and in some ways this is rather negative, whilst in others it is positive.

Let’s briefly discuss the positive features of the above essay:

• a simple but effective intro that raises the topic and states what will follow
• two clearly structured body paragraphs
• fully-developed ideas with examples
• some – but not too many – transitional phrases
• excellent grammar and accurate use of vocabulary
• a reasonable conclusion that neatly summarises everything previously discussed

About The Author

David S. Wills

David S. Wills is the author of Scientologist! William S. Burroughs and the 'Weird Cult' and the founder/editor of Beatdom literary journal. He lives and works in rural Cambodia and loves to travel. He has worked as an IELTS tutor since 2010, has completed both TEFL and CELTA courses, and has a certificate from Cambridge for Teaching Writing. David has worked in many different countries, and for several years designed a writing course for the University of Worcester. In 2018, he wrote the popular IELTS handbook, Grammar for IELTS Writing and he has since written two other books about IELTS. His other IELTS website is called IELTS Teaching.

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Hi David, I enjoy reading your well thought out essays. I noticed that your essay is a discussion essay with no direct opinion given. The question asks: Is it a negative OR positive development? To me, this sounds like this question requires an opinion and not only a discussion? Are they asking you to make a choice? I would be interested in your thinking? Peter

I’d say that this is a 2 part question and I answered both parts. The first asks about the impact on society and the second is about it being positive/negative. I would say that the latter is certainly an opinion because nothing is objectively positive or negative. However, it’s also possible in such situations to give balance. As long as the explanation for the balance is clear and reasonable, I’d say it’s no problem.

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Essay On Mass Media

500 words essay on mass media.

All kinds of different tools which come in use to help in distributing and circulating information and entertainment to the public come under the term of mass media. In other words, everything including radio, newspapers , cable, television and theatre are parts of mass media. These tools include exchanging opinions and public involvement. Through essay on mass media, we will go through it in detail.

Introduction to Mass Media

In today’s world, mass media embraces internet , cell phones, electronic mail, computers, pagers and satellites. All these new additions function as transmitting information from a single source to multiple receivers.

In other words, they are interactive and work on the person to person formula. Thus, it revolves around the masses i.e. the people. It is true that radio, television, press and cinema are in the spotlight when we talk about mass media.

Nonetheless, the role of pamphlets, books, magazines, posters, billboards, and more also have equal importance if not less. Moreover, the reach of these tools extends to a huge amount of masses living all over the country.

Television, cinema, radio and press are comparatively expensive forms of media which private financial institutions or the Government runs. These tools centre on the idea of mass production and mass distribution.

Therefore, newspapers, television and radio cater to the needs of the mass audience and accommodates their taste. As a result, it will not always be refined or sophisticated. In other words, it displays popular culture.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

The Function of Mass Media

The main function of mass media is to reach out to the masses and provide them with information. In addition to that, it also operates to analyze and observe our surroundings and provide information in the form of news accordingly.

As a result, the masses get constantly updated about not just their own surroundings but also around the world. This way mass media spreads and interprets information. For instance, weather forecasts equip people and farmers to plan ahead.

Similarly, fishermen get updates about the tidal activities from the news. In addition to this, mass media also strives to keep the fabric of our social heritage intact which showcasing our customs, myths and civilization.

Another major product of mass media is advertising. This way people learn about the goods and services in the market. It also spreads social awareness. For instance, anti-smoking campaign, women empowerment, green earth clean earth and more.

Most importantly, with the numerous mediums available in multiple languages, the masses get entertainment in their own language easily. Millions of people get to access a cheap source of relaxation and pass their time. In fact, it also helps to transport momentarily from our ordinary lives to a dream world. Thus, it remains the undisputed leader in reaching out to the masses.

Conclusion of Essay on Mass Media

All in all, while it is an effective tool, we must also keep a check on its consumption. In other words, it has the power to create and destroy. Nonetheless, it is a medium which can bring about a change in the masses. Thus, everyone must utilize and consume it properly.

FAQ on Essay on Mass Media

Question 1: Why is mass media important?

Answer 1: Mass media is essential as it informs, educates and entertains the public. Moreover, it also influences the way we look at the world. In other words, it helps in organizing public opinion.

Question 2: How does mass media affect our lives?

Answer 2: Mass media affects many aspects of human life, which range from the way we vote to our individual views and beliefs. Most importantly, it also helps in debunking false information.

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Why teachers should be worried about TikTok ‘exam gurus’

The latest social media monster has arrived and is rearing its ugly head, this time in the form of the “online tutor exam guru”.

Over the past couple of years, there has been a boom in online tutoring videos, with some real gems helping teachers and students alike in preparing for GCSEs.

This year, however, things are very different. A quick scroll on my social media feed brings up a slew of so-called experts claiming to have the answer to a grade 9 essay, a leaked set of topics or even a guarantee on how to get full marks in Year 6 Sats. And it’s immediately clear just how damaging these videos can be.

TikTok exam advice

I opened TikTok on Sunday evening for a quick scroll and was almost immediately confronted with an overwhelming number of videos claiming they could teach me how to get full marks on the next day’s GCSE English literature paper one.

Video after video flashed up, making impossible claims about exam content and proposing that certain linguistic phrases (that I didn’t come across until the second year of my degree) would “guarantee a 9”.

Most worryingly, I also saw a mocked-up exam paper with this year’s dates on, which had had more than 28,000 likes.

These videos have extremely damaging consequences.

• Teacher TikTok: the safeguarding risks
• 2024 exams: Ofqual issues warning over cheating
• How Instagram and Facebook can help school attendance

There have been reports in the past week of students hyperventilating over the belief that an obscure character or source would be the focus of an exam after coming across a video, and others who have been sorely disappointed when focusing revision only on what an online tutoring video claimed would be on the exam.

So, what can we do to help our students navigate this deluge of misleading “help”?

You can’t stop them going on their phones, but you can remind them about what really matters and warn them about the dangers of what they see online. We need to recognise the threat, take it seriously and be vigilant about when and how our students are using online resources.

In my department, teachers all delivered the same message: gently reminding students that the only way they can truly prepare for the exams is by knowing the texts really well, remembering taught essay structures and taking time to plan and review answers.

Misguided advice

We were explicit that students needed to step away from social media and look at the resources we had prepared with them.

Short of setting up our own channels to counter the spurious work of online creators, this is all we can really do.

It’s incredibly frustrating that there are content creators out there who are sharing at best misguided advice, and at worst incorrect or falsified information, simply to garner likes.

It’s really unfair on already anxious students that they are exposed to this content that causes so much worry. But as the online world continues to mesh ever further with our real lives, it is another issue we must be vigilant about.

Laura May Rowlands is head of English in a secondary school in Hampshire

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topics in this article

CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS article

The effect of social media on the development of students’ affective variables.

• 1 Science and Technology Department, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China
• 2 School of Marxism, Hohai University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
• 3 Government Enterprise Customer Center, China Mobile Group Jiangsu Co., Ltd., Nanjing, China

The use of social media is incomparably on the rise among students, influenced by the globalized forms of communication and the post-pandemic rush to use multiple social media platforms for education in different fields of study. Though social media has created tremendous chances for sharing ideas and emotions, the kind of social support it provides might fail to meet students’ emotional needs, or the alleged positive effects might be short-lasting. In recent years, several studies have been conducted to explore the potential effects of social media on students’ affective traits, such as stress, anxiety, depression, and so on. The present paper reviews the findings of the exemplary published works of research to shed light on the positive and negative potential effects of the massive use of social media on students’ emotional well-being. This review can be insightful for teachers who tend to take the potential psychological effects of social media for granted. They may want to know more about the actual effects of the over-reliance on and the excessive (and actually obsessive) use of social media on students’ developing certain images of self and certain emotions which are not necessarily positive. There will be implications for pre- and in-service teacher training and professional development programs and all those involved in student affairs.

Introduction

Social media has turned into an essential element of individuals’ lives including students in today’s world of communication. Its use is growing significantly more than ever before especially in the post-pandemic era, marked by a great revolution happening to the educational systems. Recent investigations of using social media show that approximately 3 billion individuals worldwide are now communicating via social media ( Iwamoto and Chun, 2020 ). This growing population of social media users is spending more and more time on social network groupings, as facts and figures show that individuals spend 2 h a day, on average, on a variety of social media applications, exchanging pictures and messages, updating status, tweeting, favoring, and commenting on many updated socially shared information ( Abbott, 2017 ).

Researchers have begun to investigate the psychological effects of using social media on students’ lives. Chukwuere and Chukwuere (2017) maintained that social media platforms can be considered the most important source of changing individuals’ mood, because when someone is passively using a social media platform seemingly with no special purpose, s/he can finally feel that his/her mood has changed as a function of the nature of content overviewed. Therefore, positive and negative moods can easily be transferred among the population using social media networks ( Chukwuere and Chukwuere, 2017 ). This may become increasingly important as students are seen to be using social media platforms more than before and social networking is becoming an integral aspect of their lives. As described by Iwamoto and Chun (2020) , when students are affected by social media posts, especially due to the increasing reliance on social media use in life, they may be encouraged to begin comparing themselves to others or develop great unrealistic expectations of themselves or others, which can have several affective consequences.

Considering the increasing influence of social media on education, the present paper aims to focus on the affective variables such as depression, stress, and anxiety, and how social media can possibly increase or decrease these emotions in student life. The exemplary works of research on this topic in recent years will be reviewed here, hoping to shed light on the positive and negative effects of these ever-growing influential platforms on the psychology of students.

Significance of the study

Though social media, as the name suggests, is expected to keep people connected, probably this social connection is only superficial, and not adequately deep and meaningful to help individuals feel emotionally attached to others. The psychological effects of social media on student life need to be studied in more depth to see whether social media really acts as a social support for students and whether students can use social media to cope with negative emotions and develop positive feelings or not. In other words, knowledge of the potential effects of the growing use of social media on students’ emotional well-being can bridge the gap between the alleged promises of social media and what it actually has to offer to students in terms of self-concept, self-respect, social role, and coping strategies (for stress, anxiety, etc.).

Exemplary general literature on psychological effects of social media

Before getting down to the effects of social media on students’ emotional well-being, some exemplary works of research in recent years on the topic among general populations are reviewed. For one, Aalbers et al. (2018) reported that individuals who spent more time passively working with social media suffered from more intense levels of hopelessness, loneliness, depression, and perceived inferiority. For another, Tang et al. (2013) observed that the procedures of sharing information, commenting, showing likes and dislikes, posting messages, and doing other common activities on social media are correlated with higher stress. Similarly, Ley et al. (2014) described that people who spend 2 h, on average, on social media applications will face many tragic news, posts, and stories which can raise the total intensity of their stress. This stress-provoking effect of social media has been also pinpointed by Weng and Menczer (2015) , who contended that social media becomes a main source of stress because people often share all kinds of posts, comments, and stories ranging from politics and economics, to personal and social affairs. According to Iwamoto and Chun (2020) , anxiety and depression are the negative emotions that an individual may develop when some source of stress is present. In other words, when social media sources become stress-inducing, there are high chances that anxiety and depression also develop.

Charoensukmongkol (2018) reckoned that the mental health and well-being of the global population can be at a great risk through the uncontrolled massive use of social media. These researchers also showed that social media sources can exert negative affective impacts on teenagers, as they can induce more envy and social comparison. According to Fleck and Johnson-Migalski (2015) , though social media, at first, plays the role of a stress-coping strategy, when individuals continue to see stressful conditions (probably experienced and shared by others in media), they begin to develop stress through the passage of time. Chukwuere and Chukwuere (2017) maintained that social media platforms continue to be the major source of changing mood among general populations. For example, someone might be passively using a social media sphere, and s/he may finally find him/herself with a changed mood depending on the nature of the content faced. Then, this good or bad mood is easily shared with others in a flash through the social media. Finally, as Alahmar (2016) described, social media exposes people especially the young generation to new exciting activities and events that may attract them and keep them engaged in different media contexts for hours just passing their time. It usually leads to reduced productivity, reduced academic achievement, and addiction to constant media use ( Alahmar, 2016 ).

The number of studies on the potential psychological effects of social media on people in general is higher than those selectively addressed here. For further insights into this issue, some other suggested works of research include Chang (2012) , Sriwilai and Charoensukmongkol (2016) , and Zareen et al. (2016) . Now, we move to the studies that more specifically explored the effects of social media on students’ affective states.

Review of the affective influences of social media on students

Vygotsky’s mediational theory (see Fernyhough, 2008 ) can be regarded as a main theoretical background for the support of social media on learners’ affective states. Based on this theory, social media can play the role of a mediational means between learners and the real environment. Learners’ understanding of this environment can be mediated by the image shaped via social media. This image can be either close to or different from the reality. In the case of the former, learners can develop their self-image and self-esteem. In the case of the latter, learners might develop unrealistic expectations of themselves by comparing themselves to others. As it will be reviewed below among the affective variables increased or decreased in students under the influence of the massive use of social media are anxiety, stress, depression, distress, rumination, and self-esteem. These effects have been explored more among school students in the age range of 13–18 than university students (above 18), but some studies were investigated among college students as well. Exemplary works of research on these affective variables are reviewed here.

In a cross-sectional study, O’Dea and Campbell (2011) explored the impact of online interactions of social networks on the psychological distress of adolescent students. These researchers found a negative correlation between the time spent on social networking and mental distress. Dumitrache et al. (2012) explored the relations between depression and the identity associated with the use of the popular social media, the Facebook. This study showed significant associations between depression and the number of identity-related information pieces shared on this social network. Neira and Barber (2014) explored the relationship between students’ social media use and depressed mood at teenage. No significant correlation was found between these two variables. In the same year, Tsitsika et al. (2014) explored the associations between excessive use of social media and internalizing emotions. These researchers found a positive correlation between more than 2-h a day use of social media and anxiety and depression.

Hanprathet et al. (2015) reported a statistically significant positive correlation between addiction to Facebook and depression among about a thousand high school students in wealthy populations of Thailand and warned against this psychological threat. Sampasa-Kanyinga and Lewis (2015) examined the relationship between social media use and psychological distress. These researchers found that the use of social media for more than 2 h a day was correlated with a higher intensity of psychological distress. Banjanin et al. (2015) tested the relationship between too much use of social networking and depression, yet found no statistically significant correlation between these two variables. Frison and Eggermont (2016) examined the relationships between different forms of Facebook use, perceived social support of social media, and male and female students’ depressed mood. These researchers found a positive association between the passive use of the Facebook and depression and also between the active use of the social media and depression. Furthermore, the perceived social support of the social media was found to mediate this association. Besides, gender was found as the other factor to mediate this relationship.

Vernon et al. (2017) explored change in negative investment in social networking in relation to change in depression and externalizing behavior. These researchers found that increased investment in social media predicted higher depression in adolescent students, which was a function of the effect of higher levels of disrupted sleep. Barry et al. (2017) explored the associations between the use of social media by adolescents and their psychosocial adjustment. Social media activity showed to be positively and moderately associated with depression and anxiety. Another investigation was focused on secondary school students in China conducted by Li et al. (2017) . The findings showed a mediating role of insomnia on the significant correlation between depression and addiction to social media. In the same year, Yan et al. (2017) aimed to explore the time spent on social networks and its correlation with anxiety among middle school students. They found a significant positive correlation between more than 2-h use of social networks and the intensity of anxiety.

Also in China, Wang et al. (2018) showed that addiction to social networking sites was correlated positively with depression, and this correlation was mediated by rumination. These researchers also found that this mediating effect was moderated by self-esteem. It means that the effect of addiction on depression was compounded by low self-esteem through rumination. In another work of research, Drouin et al. (2018) showed that though social media is expected to act as a form of social support for the majority of university students, it can adversely affect students’ mental well-being, especially for those who already have high levels of anxiety and depression. In their research, the social media resources were found to be stress-inducing for half of the participants, all university students. The higher education population was also studied by Iwamoto and Chun (2020) . These researchers investigated the emotional effects of social media in higher education and found that the socially supportive role of social media was overshadowed in the long run in university students’ lives and, instead, fed into their perceived depression, anxiety, and stress.

Keles et al. (2020) provided a systematic review of the effect of social media on young and teenage students’ depression, psychological distress, and anxiety. They found that depression acted as the most frequent affective variable measured. The most salient risk factors of psychological distress, anxiety, and depression based on the systematic review were activities such as repeated checking for messages, personal investment, the time spent on social media, and problematic or addictive use. Similarly, Mathewson (2020) investigated the effect of using social media on college students’ mental health. The participants stated the experience of anxiety, depression, and suicidality (thoughts of suicide or attempts to suicide). The findings showed that the types and frequency of using social media and the students’ perceived mental health were significantly correlated with each other.

The body of research on the effect of social media on students’ affective and emotional states has led to mixed results. The existing literature shows that there are some positive and some negative affective impacts. Yet, it seems that the latter is pre-dominant. Mathewson (2020) attributed these divergent positive and negative effects to the different theoretical frameworks adopted in different studies and also the different contexts (different countries with whole different educational systems). According to Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions ( Fredrickson, 2001 ), the mental repertoires of learners can be built and broadened by how they feel. For instance, some external stimuli might provoke negative emotions such as anxiety and depression in learners. Having experienced these negative emotions, students might repeatedly check their messages on social media or get addicted to them. As a result, their cognitive repertoire and mental capacity might become limited and they might lose their concentration during their learning process. On the other hand, it should be noted that by feeling positive, learners might take full advantage of the affordances of the social media and; thus, be able to follow their learning goals strategically. This point should be highlighted that the link between the use of social media and affective states is bi-directional. Therefore, strategic use of social media or its addictive use by students can direct them toward either positive experiences like enjoyment or negative ones such as anxiety and depression. Also, these mixed positive and negative effects are similar to the findings of several other relevant studies on general populations’ psychological and emotional health. A number of studies (with general research populations not necessarily students) showed that social networks have facilitated the way of staying in touch with family and friends living far away as well as an increased social support ( Zhang, 2017 ). Given the positive and negative emotional effects of social media, social media can either scaffold the emotional repertoire of students, which can develop positive emotions in learners, or induce negative provokers in them, based on which learners might feel negative emotions such as anxiety and depression. However, admittedly, social media has also generated a domain that encourages the act of comparing lives, and striving for approval; therefore, it establishes and internalizes unrealistic perceptions ( Virden et al., 2014 ; Radovic et al., 2017 ).

It should be mentioned that the susceptibility of affective variables to social media should be interpreted from a dynamic lens. This means that the ecology of the social media can make changes in the emotional experiences of learners. More specifically, students’ affective variables might self-organize into different states under the influence of social media. As for the positive correlation found in many studies between the use of social media and such negative effects as anxiety, depression, and stress, it can be hypothesized that this correlation is induced by the continuous comparison the individual makes and the perception that others are doing better than him/her influenced by the posts that appear on social media. Using social media can play a major role in university students’ psychological well-being than expected. Though most of these studies were correlational, and correlation is not the same as causation, as the studies show that the number of participants experiencing these negative emotions under the influence of social media is significantly high, more extensive research is highly suggested to explore causal effects ( Mathewson, 2020 ).

As the review of exemplary studies showed, some believed that social media increased comparisons that students made between themselves and others. This finding ratifies the relevance of the Interpretation Comparison Model ( Stapel and Koomen, 2000 ; Stapel, 2007 ) and Festinger’s (1954) Social Comparison Theory. Concerning the negative effects of social media on students’ psychology, it can be argued that individuals may fail to understand that the content presented in social media is usually changed to only represent the attractive aspects of people’s lives, showing an unrealistic image of things. We can add that this argument also supports the relevance of the Social Comparison Theory and the Interpretation Comparison Model ( Stapel and Koomen, 2000 ; Stapel, 2007 ), because social media sets standards that students think they should compare themselves with. A constant observation of how other students or peers are showing their instances of achievement leads to higher self-evaluation ( Stapel and Koomen, 2000 ). It is conjectured that the ubiquitous role of social media in student life establishes unrealistic expectations and promotes continuous comparison as also pinpointed in the Interpretation Comparison Model ( Stapel and Koomen, 2000 ; Stapel, 2007 ).

Implications of the study

The use of social media is ever increasing among students, both at school and university, which is partly because of the promises of technological advances in communication services and partly because of the increased use of social networks for educational purposes in recent years after the pandemic. This consistent use of social media is not expected to leave students’ psychological, affective and emotional states untouched. Thus, it is necessary to know how the growing usage of social networks is associated with students’ affective health on different aspects. Therefore, we found it useful to summarize the research findings in recent years in this respect. If those somehow in charge of student affairs in educational settings are aware of the potential positive or negative effects of social media usage on students, they can better understand the complexities of students’ needs and are better capable of meeting them.

Psychological counseling programs can be initiated at schools or universities to check upon the latest state of students’ mental and emotional health influenced by the pervasive use of social media. The counselors can be made aware of the potential adverse effects of social networking and can adapt the content of their inquiries accordingly. Knowledge of the potential reasons for student anxiety, depression, and stress can help school or university counselors to find individualized coping strategies when they diagnose any symptom of distress in students influenced by an excessive use of social networking.

Admittedly, it is neither possible to discard the use of social media in today’s academic life, nor to keep students’ use of social networks fully controlled. Certainly, the educational space in today’s world cannot do without the social media, which has turned into an integral part of everybody’s life. Yet, probably students need to be instructed on how to take advantage of the media and to be the least affected negatively by its occasional superficial and unrepresentative content. Compensatory programs might be needed at schools or universities to encourage students to avoid making unrealistic and impartial comparisons of themselves and the flamboyant images of others displayed on social media. Students can be taught to develop self-appreciation and self-care while continuing to use the media to their benefit.

The teachers’ role as well as the curriculum developers’ role are becoming more important than ever, as they can significantly help to moderate the adverse effects of the pervasive social media use on students’ mental and emotional health. The kind of groupings formed for instructional purposes, for example, in social media can be done with greater care by teachers to make sure that the members of the groups are homogeneous and the tasks and activities shared in the groups are quite relevant and realistic. The teachers cannot always be in a full control of students’ use of social media, and the other fact is that students do not always and only use social media for educational purposes. They spend more time on social media for communicating with friends or strangers or possibly they just passively receive the content produced out of any educational scope just for entertainment. This uncontrolled and unrealistic content may give them a false image of life events and can threaten their mental and emotional health. Thus, teachers can try to make students aware of the potential hazards of investing too much of their time on following pages or people that publish false and misleading information about their personal or social identities. As students, logically expected, spend more time with their teachers than counselors, they may be better and more receptive to the advice given by the former than the latter.

Teachers may not be in full control of their students’ use of social media, but they have always played an active role in motivating or demotivating students to take particular measures in their academic lives. If teachers are informed of the recent research findings about the potential effects of massively using social media on students, they may find ways to reduce students’ distraction or confusion in class due to the excessive or over-reliant use of these networks. Educators may more often be mesmerized by the promises of technology-, computer- and mobile-assisted learning. They may tend to encourage the use of social media hoping to benefit students’ social and interpersonal skills, self-confidence, stress-managing and the like. Yet, they may be unaware of the potential adverse effects on students’ emotional well-being and, thus, may find the review of the recent relevant research findings insightful. Also, teachers can mediate between learners and social media to manipulate the time learners spend on social media. Research has mainly indicated that students’ emotional experiences are mainly dependent on teachers’ pedagogical approach. They should refrain learners from excessive use of, or overreliance on, social media. Raising learners’ awareness of this fact that individuals should develop their own path of development for learning, and not build their development based on unrealistic comparison of their competences with those of others, can help them consider positive values for their activities on social media and, thus, experience positive emotions.

At higher education, students’ needs are more life-like. For example, their employment-seeking spirits might lead them to create accounts in many social networks, hoping for a better future. However, membership in many of these networks may end in the mere waste of the time that could otherwise be spent on actual on-campus cooperative projects. Universities can provide more on-campus resources both for research and work experience purposes from which the students can benefit more than the cyberspace that can be tricky on many occasions. Two main theories underlying some negative emotions like boredom and anxiety are over-stimulation and under-stimulation. Thus, what learners feel out of their involvement in social media might be directed toward negative emotions due to the stimulating environment of social media. This stimulating environment makes learners rely too much, and spend too much time, on social media or use them obsessively. As a result, they might feel anxious or depressed. Given the ubiquity of social media, these negative emotions can be replaced with positive emotions if learners become aware of the psychological effects of social media. Regarding the affordances of social media for learners, they can take advantage of the potential affordances of these media such as improving their literacy, broadening their communication skills, or enhancing their distance learning opportunities.

A review of the research findings on the relationship between social media and students’ affective traits revealed both positive and negative findings. Yet, the instances of the latter were more salient and the negative psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and stress have been far from negligible. These findings were discussed in relation to some more relevant theories such as the social comparison theory, which predicted that most of the potential issues with the young generation’s excessive use of social media were induced by the unfair comparisons they made between their own lives and the unrealistic portrayal of others’ on social media. Teachers, education policymakers, curriculum developers, and all those in charge of the student affairs at schools and universities should be made aware of the psychological effects of the pervasive use of social media on students, and the potential threats.

It should be reminded that the alleged socially supportive and communicative promises of the prevalent use of social networking in student life might not be fully realized in practice. Students may lose self-appreciation and gratitude when they compare their current state of life with the snapshots of others’ or peers’. A depressed or stressed-out mood can follow. Students at schools or universities need to learn self-worth to resist the adverse effects of the superficial support they receive from social media. Along this way, they should be assisted by the family and those in charge at schools or universities, most importantly the teachers. As already suggested, counseling programs might help with raising students’ awareness of the potential psychological threats of social media to their health. Considering the ubiquity of social media in everybody’ life including student life worldwide, it seems that more coping and compensatory strategies should be contrived to moderate the adverse psychological effects of the pervasive use of social media on students. Also, the affective influences of social media should not be generalized but they need to be interpreted from an ecological or contextual perspective. This means that learners might have different emotions at different times or different contexts while being involved in social media. More specifically, given the stative approach to learners’ emotions, what learners emotionally experience in their application of social media can be bound to their intra-personal and interpersonal experiences. This means that the same learner at different time points might go through different emotions Also, learners’ emotional states as a result of their engagement in social media cannot be necessarily generalized to all learners in a class.

As the majority of studies on the psychological effects of social media on student life have been conducted on school students than in higher education, it seems it is too soon to make any conclusive remark on this population exclusively. Probably, in future, further studies of the psychological complexities of students at higher education and a better knowledge of their needs can pave the way for making more insightful conclusions about the effects of social media on their affective states.

Suggestions for further research

The majority of studies on the potential effects of social media usage on students’ psychological well-being are either quantitative or qualitative in type, each with many limitations. Presumably, mixed approaches in near future can better provide a comprehensive assessment of these potential associations. Moreover, most studies on this topic have been cross-sectional in type. There is a significant dearth of longitudinal investigation on the effect of social media on developing positive or negative emotions in students. This seems to be essential as different affective factors such as anxiety, stress, self-esteem, and the like have a developmental nature. Traditional research methods with single-shot designs for data collection fail to capture the nuances of changes in these affective variables. It can be expected that more longitudinal studies in future can show how the continuous use of social media can affect the fluctuations of any of these affective variables during the different academic courses students pass at school or university.

As already raised in some works of research reviewed, the different patterns of impacts of social media on student life depend largely on the educational context. Thus, the same research designs with the same academic grade students and even the same age groups can lead to different findings concerning the effects of social media on student psychology in different countries. In other words, the potential positive and negative effects of popular social media like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, etc., on students’ affective conditions can differ across different educational settings in different host countries. Thus, significantly more research is needed in different contexts and cultures to compare the results.

There is also a need for further research on the higher education students and how their affective conditions are positively and negatively affected by the prevalent use of social media. University students’ psychological needs might be different from other academic grades and, thus, the patterns of changes that the overall use of social networking can create in their emotions can be also different. Their main reasons for using social media might be different from school students as well, which need to be investigated more thoroughly. The sorts of interventions needed to moderate the potential negative effects of social networking on them can be different too, all requiring a new line of research in education domain.

Finally, there are hopes that considering the ever-increasing popularity of social networking in education, the potential psychological effects of social media on teachers be explored as well. Though teacher psychology has only recently been considered for research, the literature has provided profound insights into teachers developing stress, motivation, self-esteem, and many other emotions. In today’s world driven by global communications in the cyberspace, teachers like everyone else are affecting and being affected by social networking. The comparison theory can hold true for teachers too. Thus, similar threats (of social media) to self-esteem and self-worth can be there for teachers too besides students, which are worth investigating qualitatively and quantitatively.

Probably a new line of research can be initiated to explore the co-development of teacher and learner psychological traits under the influence of social media use in longitudinal studies. These will certainly entail sophisticated research methods to be capable of unraveling the nuances of variation in these traits and their mutual effects, for example, stress, motivation, and self-esteem. If these are incorporated within mixed-approach works of research, more comprehensive and better insightful findings can be expected to emerge. Correlational studies need to be followed by causal studies in educational settings. As many conditions of the educational settings do not allow for having control groups or randomization, probably, experimental studies do not help with this. Innovative research methods, case studies or else, can be used to further explore the causal relations among the different features of social media use and the development of different affective variables in teachers or learners. Examples of such innovative research methods can be process tracing, qualitative comparative analysis, and longitudinal latent factor modeling (for a more comprehensive view, see Hiver and Al-Hoorie, 2019 ).

Author contributions

Both authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

This study was sponsored by Wuxi Philosophy and Social Sciences bidding project—“Special Project for Safeguarding the Rights and Interests of Workers in the New Form of Employment” (Grant No. WXSK22-GH-13). This study was sponsored by the Key Project of Party Building and Ideological and Political Education Research of Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications—“Research on the Guidance and Countermeasures of Network Public Opinion in Colleges and Universities in the Modern Times” (Grant No. XC 2021002).

Conflict of interest

Author XX was employed by China Mobile Group Jiangsu Co., Ltd.

The remaining author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords : affective variables, education, emotions, social media, post-pandemic, emotional needs

Citation: Chen M and Xiao X (2022) The effect of social media on the development of students’ affective variables. Front. Psychol. 13:1010766. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1010766

Received: 03 August 2022; Accepted: 25 August 2022; Published: 15 September 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Chen and Xiao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Miao Chen, [email protected] ; Xin Xiao, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Pupils warned of punishment if they search for exam papers on social media

Pupils have been told they risk being disqualified if they look for exam papers on social media .

Teenagers who look for the exams or take their phones into an exam hall face the punishment, England’s exams regulator warned.

There were 2,180 cases with penalties for this type of offence in 2023, compared with 1,825 in 2022, according to figures from the exams regulator.

Students should report accounts claiming to sell this year’s exam papers – which are “almost always scams” – to teachers, the chief regulator has said.

Ahead of exam season, Ofqual has urged students to plan somewhere safe to leave their mobile device during exams after instances of students being found with mobile devices in exams have almost doubled since 2018.

Research for Ofqual last year suggested that most students do not intend to use their phones to cheat, but they do not want to be separated from them as they are worried about loss or damage.

Sir Ian Bauckham, chief regulator at Ofqual, said: “Students should also be aware of the risks of exam papers on social media.

“Accounts claiming to sell this year’s exam papers are almost always scams. Students should report these accounts to teachers.

“Students risk losing the qualification they’ve been studying for if they search for or communicate with social media accounts claiming to sell leaked exam papers.

“Sanctions can still apply even if the papers turn out to be fake. Buying papers is never worth the risk.”

Sir Ian added: “Students have been working hard to prepare for their exams, and nobody wants them to miss out on their grades and qualifications.

“Thankfully, most students are aware of the risks of malpractice and comply with the rules.

“It’s important that the rules are followed so that grades reflect what a student knows, understands and can do.”

Ofqual data, released in December last year, showed that there were 4,895 cases of malpractice during GCSEs, AS and A-level examinations which included students in 2023, up from 4,105 in 2022.

A spokesperson for the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), which represents the UK’s major exam boards, said: “It is important students know to report fraudulent accounts claiming to sell exam papers on social media to their teachers.

“JCQ wishes all students well with their exams and assessments.”

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “We are sure that the vast majority of students taking exams will stick to the rules, but there are always some who do not do so, and unfortunately the misuse of digital technology is a real headache.

“ Schools and colleges rigorously police exam rooms to ensure that devices are not brought in by candidates and they warn students not to try to find exam papers on social media.

“These are generally fake papers being circulated as a scam, but in the rare event of a genuine paper being leaked, any student accessing that paper risks disqualification.

“It is really important that students take heed of these warnings.”

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UHart Celebrates Class of 2024 at Commencement

More than 1,200 graduate and undergraduate students hear from two distinguished alums..

The indelible influence of teachers, the challenges of the pandemic, and the unwavering support of family were recurring themes at the University of Hartford’s 2024 Commencement ceremonies. More than 1,200 graduate and undergraduate students and their guests filled the XL Center in downtown Hartford, where two distinguished UHart alumni delivered this year’s Commencement addresses.

During the morning ceremony, Jay Malave M’98, chief financial officer of Lockheed Martin, one of the nation’s leading global security and aerospace companies, addressed doctoral and master’s degree recipients. Later in the day, UHart undergraduates heard from Georgia State Senator Sonya Halpern M’90, a persevering advocate for equity and opportunity.

Many of the undergraduates entered UHart in 2020, and several speakers acknowledged the long shadow cast by the pandemic on the class’s academic journey. Halpern told undergraduates, “For many of you, there was no prom. No senior trip. And a scaled down or virtual graduation, if you even had one. But this bright and beautiful day makes up for all of your challenges and sacrifices.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal echoed that sentiment in his remarks to the undergraduates. “You've embraced each other, supported each other, during a time of COVID, a time of anguish, challenge and fear,” he said. “You will leave our great nation a little bit better, a little bit stronger than you found it.”

In his charge to undergraduates, Barney School of Business student and Student Government Association president Anthony Lebron ’24, M’25 acknowledged the challenges of the pandemic, but said he and his classmates also learned valuable lessons about resilience, flexibility, and the importance of community. “We embraced virtual classrooms, forged connections with classmates and professors online, and found innovative ways to stay engaged with campus life,” he said.

Halpern, who received her MBA from UHart, also focused on the purpose of higher education, telling undergraduates, “This remarkable institution that I am proud to call my alma mater has prepared you to do work that matters, including work that focuses on advancing the public good by working within the community—local or global."

“We never know where life will take us. There will be twists and turns, pauses and plateaus, trials and triumphs that you cannot even begin to predict or even imagine. Every great achievement begins with the decision to start. But it’s not just about the courage to leap; it's about the perseverance to keep moving forward, even when the finish line shifts.”

Malave, speaking at the graduate ceremony, recalled how his Introduction to Accounting professor at UHart influenced his career path. He said Professor James Bannister, currently chair of the Accounting Department at the Barney School of Business, inspired him to pursue a master’s degree in accounting. “I know what you’re thinking,” he joked, “who in their right mind could be inspired by Intro to Accounting? But I knew then what I wanted to do … that decision, based on one course and one professor, changed my career trajectory and gave me the foundation I needed to one day become the CFO of Lockheed Martin.”

A total of 1,272 undergraduate and graduate students received degrees, including 22 associate degrees, 749 bachelor’s degrees, 407 master’s degrees, and 94 doctoral degrees.

The University is preparing to welcome its next president, Lawrence P. Ward, on July 1. Acting President Stephen M. Mulready M’77, who has led UHart during the 2023–24 academic year culminating decades of engagement on campus, had one simple message for the Class of 2024: “We are so proud of all of you. Good luck to you.”

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